Nine Keys
by Akatsuki Feathers
Summary: Waiting for his lobotomy, Squee falls into a catatonic state. Trapped in his mind, he must find nine keys in order to be saved. *quick chapters, illustrated*
1. Circle 1: Limbo

**A/N:** HAH WOW It'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE WRITTEN ANYTHING PEOPLE EXCUSE MEFSFG and uh this comes with a few illustrations... The whole story is on and is best viewed at jerge(dot)tumblr(dot)com/post/22226457160/nine-keys

If you want to view it here in a separated, chapter form but still want to see the illustrations, I'll put the link to them above each chapter.

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**Circle 1:**

**Limbo**

"Todd,"

He blinked and looked around the small hall that he was in. It was comfortable, the tiling was cold and smooth, firm but not hard. He sat on it and smiled weakly at his bear, holding him close and hugging him to his chest. It felt like a balm had smoothed over his soul

He felt so safe.

"Todd, you need to get up,"

He closed his eyes and hide his face from the empty hall. He closed into himself and drew his knees in.

"This place isn't safe,"

He looked down at Shmee and gave him a questioning upraise of the brow. He observed as the bear pulled himself free of the boy's arms and stood in front of him. He held out his plushy little arms and gestured to the area around them.

"This place isn't safe," the core of his body seemed to flicker translucent for a moment.

"You're being silly, Shmee," he finally said, standing up. He stepped softly through the empty hall and into the ward, seating himself down on the couch positioned in front of their TV. He would frequently find himself there when all the other children of the ward were off doing something. Just him and Shmee, watching silly little children shows and chatting with each other.

"Todd, do you even know where you are?" The bear asked him with a sharp influx of his voice, standing in front of the television. He threw his arms into the air and motioned wildly around.

"Well of course, I'm in the Defective Head Meat Institution. We've been here long enough haven't we?" He gave a small, unsure look down at the plush before blinking rapidly at him.

The bear flickered like a television screen, his form turning to static, disappearing, and reappearing again.

"Not quite Todd," the bear frowned deep, seating himself on the child's knees, "Look at me Todd,"

He obliged.

"This is not the DMHI, it just looks like it. You need to get out of here and quickly, before they get you,"

He gave a small squeak, "That's very vague Shmee! Who is getting me? How do I get out of here? Where do I go?"

"Sshh, shh, calm down," he placed himself against the boy, calming him slightly, "You are trapped and the only way to a safe place is to get the help of someone. You need to keep traveling no matter what happens on the way and you need to get to the person at the last level to help you. They're the only one who can make it on time. In order to get there though you have to get nine keys,"

"Am I in a video game?" the boy asked with a panicked gulp.

"No, no, just shh, calm down and listen." The bear insisted, "You need to get nine keys, these will be crucial to getting to your safety. You should be able to find them if you look hard enough,"

He trembled, "But Shmee, I want to stay here. I like it here. The food is really good and no one makes fun of me," he was crying, "It's warm here too, and not like temperature warm. The nurse lady is really nice to me and even the nurse man is nice to me too."

The doll was motionless.

He was sobbing harder now, hugging the doll closer, "How could this place possibly be bad for me?"

"The truth is that this place isn't real," the bear finally spoke, "You're stuck inside your mind right now Todd and your mind is falling apart. You and I were separated several days ago and you fell into a catatonic state in your room."

The boy was silent, letting the thought settle in. "That... That can't possibly be true. I mean, you're right here, I can feel you! And I'm clearly awake!" He lifted the bear and stared at his many stitches.

His eyes were half closed, "I'm sorry Todd,"

The flickering was back, Shmee's form turning on and off swiftly, static curling around the boy's vision. He repeated it again, "I'm sorry Todd," his form sinking out of his hands before disappearing all together.

Todd shook, his eyes wide, and his hands now free. His hands trembled as they patted down his legs, desperately trying to rediscover his friend. The only thing that remained on his lap however was a long, slender key. The rod was long on it and at the end were two thick teeth. At the top was a large circular handle. And that was it, just this slender, silver key.

He didn't know what to do. He just sat there, unsure of what had just happened, how to react to it, and where to go next. He tried to think past what happened to Shmee and remember what the bear had told him, but before he could even settle his thoughts the floor started to rattle very gently.

It rumbled and he stood up without much conscious thought. The boy looked down at the tile and watched as the lines wobbled as the floor trembled. The cracks between the tiles were darkening and Todd turned and ran towards his padded room, unsure of what else to do.

The floor shook only that much harder the closer he neared the room. He tripped on his feet and clung to the wall, watching as the distant floor ahead of him and behind him started to disappear. It didn't have such a dramatic effect of falling or melting away, more like a dark mist started to billow in and cloud the areas, trapping him inside.

There was no where else to go.

Tears were still streaking down his cheeks as he slid to the floor, legs weak. He tried to remember what Shmee told him. Safety. Nine keys. Help. He had to keep moving and get the keys. He had to keep moving and get to a person who could help him, assuming he would find this person after the nine keys. The keys would bring him to safety. Whatever was happening was going to hurt him-

There was a burst of static in his ears and he screamed, picking himself off the ground before throwing himself into the little room. He closed the heavy bolted door closed behind him with the best of his ability, the door closing heavily on the hinges. He could see the black mist rush up to him between the cracks right before the door locked itself shut. He fell against the padding and felt his vision burst with a poof.


	2. Circle 2: Lust

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**Circle 2:**

**Lust**

He opened his eyes to the mall. It was a nicer mall, not the one that his mother frequently ditched him at. Instead it was a nice, airy mall with brilliant white walls and shimmering white floors. Streaking across the walls and draping from the rafter were ribbons of color, primarily purples and reds.

The giant glass ceiling above him showed a sunny day and Todd felt a sudden rush of relief. Shmee was right, going ahead brought him to a nice, safe place.

The boy wandered around the empty mall, a small smile filtering across his features. He sat down on one of the red benches and kicked his dangling legs back and forth. The big swaths of fabric that was rung across the beams above him fluttered and a large breeze burst through. He looked down at the key that Shmee had given him, sticking his little fingers inside the ring. He wiggled his fingers inside of it, giggling a little, before he promptly slipped the key inside of his pocket. He stood up and went to explore the mall some more.

The only sound he could make out was his small foot steps against the unblemished tiles of the floor and the wind making the fabric hanging above him flutter. He pattered along down the walkways, past the hundreds of shops that were closed.

The mall was unoccupied and nothing was open.

He felt his hope flutter away as he suddenly felt very closed in.

The wind fluttered strong and his hair brushed across his forehead. He stepped towards the wall and watched with terror as a giant cascade of red descended from the windows. It looks like a giant flock of angry red birds but as it fell closer and closer to the floor he found that it was a giant heap of red fliers. He was still terrified out of his mind but he stepped forward very, very carefully, and picked up on of the many red papers that had flopped onto the floor in front of him in a great plume of red.

Hello little boy, you look lost.

That's all that was on the fliers; that in big black letter with a heavy underline stroked under it.

He dropped the paper and screamed, running away from the pile. However, he was soon assaulted by big storms worth of these papers and soon he found himself collapsing on the floor, his arms covering his face as the papers fluttered around him in a whirlwind of red.

Are you lost?

Whoa, calm down kid, I 'll help you

I know where your- the papers started to shred themselves into tiny bits.

KEY

Yeah, I know where your key is.

Key

Go follow me and get your key little boy

He scrambled to his feet and ran, vision blurred by the swift shifting of paper. He was screaming, arms held up to protect his face. Tiny paper cuts riddled his arms and hands, vision filling with noise and static before he was suddenly blinded-

"_Oh, he's up,"_

_The boy looked around in terror, his body contorted into strange positions._

"_Thank god, I never thought he'd snap out of it!"_

_He was about to let out a scream-_

-but he was thrown back into the flurry of the paper. He fell, twisting his ankles under the sudden shift in his weight, and he rolled across the floor. The paper fluttered around him, covering him in it, layers upon layers of paper until the boy felt like he was about to suffocate.

The boy tore at the paper that were desperately trying to keep him down and he crawled out of the mess. He got to his feet and ran to the emergency exit. He pushed through and out, shutting the door on the papers that were on his heels.

He fell backwards and panted sharply, his lungs ready to burst. His body couldn't stop shaking as the adrenaline pumped through his little body. He curled against the asphalt and he desperately hugged himself, trying to imagine how much better he would feel if Shmee was there with him. But he was gone and he still didn't understand why. Shmee had said that they had taken him away, but he didn't even know who "they" were.

Shmee always calmed him down when he was afraid. Shmee was always there to make him feel stronger but now that he wasn't there... Todd didn't know what to do. He felt himself fold inside himself, his body turning into an origami craft. He felt the tears well in his ears so much easier than they used to and he felt the sweat drench his face full. His heart was ready to burst.

But, he found himself calming down thinking about his best friend's embrace and slowly he calmed down. He looked at the emergency exit door and at the edges and wrinkles of the papers that he been caught right as he secured his freedom. The only thing written on them was "KEY" over and over again.

He uncurled and stood up slowly, legs wobbling. He looked down at his arms and watched as the little cuts on his arms closed. He didn't feel the need to question it as he stepped down the alley, the hair on the back of his neck still on end. He passed the dumpster and by several boxes. Splattered across the floor and the walls were giant red stains. The scene reminded Todd of something, something that really stung in his heart, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. However, he did spot the neat little key that rested on the box. It was a dainty little key, looking much like a standard car key but instead of rigid teeth along the edge there were small craters cut into it, little circular dimples across the length of the key.

A dimple key. The little end of the key there was a worn out orange cover that had a little crack down the middle. He picked the key up and placed it into his pocket with the other, threading his fingers together. He held his arms close to his body and stepped towards the road and out of the alleyway. He begged desperately in his mind for Shmee to be lingering there still, somewhere. But his voice didn't linger anywhere in the confines of his skull like he had before.

He missed the little bear.

He stepped out into the street and felt the wind wrap itself around him like angry snakes. He felt his feet lift from the ground and suddenly he was gone.


	3. Circle 3: Gluttony

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**Circle 3:**

**Gluttony**

Under his head was grass. Soft, long grass. He could smell the earth under him, feel the way the grass curled around his fingers and how the dirt gummed itself under his nails as he stuck his fingers down into the soft soil. He didn't dare open his eyes, the smell and the feel already too wonderful for him to handle. He didn't want his comfort torn to shreds once more. It seemed like something that would be a common trend, an occurrence that he would have to deal with during each one of his encounters during this weird journey that he had set out on.

He didn't even fully understand what he was doing exactly. So far he had been running away from the scary things, collecting the key when it crossed his path like Pac Man with his 8bit cherries. He could see that the more he enjoyed the places he visited, the more likely it was going to go to hell, and quick. He didn't understand why it was happening but stranger things had happened in his life and it certainly wasn't new to have weird things happen. In fact, he did remember a time where his -_zzzzzztshhhh_-Neighbor's house had disappeared for several weeks before arriving back again with the front window inexplicably fixed.

Todd just wanted to know what would happen in the end. What was going to become of him when he collected those nine keys? Who was the person, or creature, or diety, that was supposed to be helping him? Why were the keys needed?

Inevitably any sort of questioning brought him to a final question that he never seemed to be able to answer: Why was this all happening to him anyway? What was it about Todd Casil that attracted all of this weird?

He thought it often but could never connect the dots. There was a missing piece, that was for sure, but his ability to see that piece was beyond him.

A soft pat on his shoulder brought him from his introspective speculation and he opened his eyes without thinking about the agreement he had made with himself. He, however, did not regret the sight as much as he guessed he would.

The grass was a vivid and wonderful shade of green. Tender in the shade, bordering between the fine forest green and a sharp lime, soothing for his eyes but still eye-popping. It was hard for him to understand what he was looking at in fact.

Around him were large trees with Celtic knot trunks. Their leaves were the same color green as the grass and inside their plumes were rubies shaped like apples. The trees circled around a large hill that he sat at the bottom of. Atop that hill sat a giant tree with beautiful, twisting trunks that lifted high towards the sky. The branches entwined into a large disk where the leaves grew, leaving a giant empty space in the middle of the foliage. Sprouting in the middle of the giant ring was a small tree fashioned in the same sort but in it's middle rested a red candy apple.

He could barely take in the images, everything too harmonious and beautiful for him to truly believe. He looked up at the creature that patted him and took a long look at the large rabbit that sat by him.

It was a large white rabbit who stood about the same height him and had ears that were tied in a knot atop his fluffy head. His eyes were just large Xs. His little pink nose sort of twinkled as he sensed the boy's look. He opened his large mouth, and almost like music coming out of the funnel of a gramophone, the creature started to speak to him.

"_feeeeed your heeeead,_" it whispered out, "_the other voices have become self aware,_"

More rabbits found their way around the boy and they spoke in the same manner. They let out low whispers from the unmoving jowls, dead eyes forever stitched closed like buttons. They said all sorts of strange things that frightened the child and before Todd knew what his body was doing, he was to his feet and he was running up the hill and away from the creatures.

"_just listeeeeen to me,_" they all seemed to sing as he climbed his way up the tree.

He made his way up the twisting, knotted tree trunk and into the leaves above. He sat on the top of the bottom of the ring, perched near the smaller tree with a look of absolute horror. The boy couldn't bring himself to reply to them, just cling to the small tree for dear life as he went back to reconsider the actions he had just taken.

He really should not have scaled that tree.

Todd looked down at the absurd height separating him from the ground. His back was tingling in fear as he pulled his feet up into the thick leaves and hugged himself close to the tree.

"_squee, what you seeeeek is in the appleeeee,_"

"_we do not wiiiiish to scare you,"_

Todd didn't know what to make of it. So, in a tiny burst of bravery, he finally yelped out, "So, if I get the apple will you help me down?"

"_of coooourse,_"

He shifted his weight in the tree and wrapped his legs around the small tree. He gripped the large, cool apple with both hands and pulled with all his might. With a little work the object plucked free from the branch and he sat in apprehension, waiting for any sort of negative reaction.

Instead, the clan of rabbits seemed to be making a ladder out of themselves. The top rabbit climbed up on top of his kind and gripped the branch just below Todd's feet.

He looked at them with wide eyes and let out a small squeal, not sure what to make of the creatures. So, he slowly scooted his body around and, with a little easing from the top rabbit, slid down them like a giant fuzzy slide. He was sure he was going to fall off but before he knew it, his feet had made it to the grass, and he was pushed to his feet without thinking.

The rabbits fell like cotton balls in the air and landed around him like marshmallows. They bounced a slight bit before rolling to their large feet and heading off back to the woods.

One remained, "_the key is insiiiiiiide the apple, squee_,"

He didn't question why they called him Squee, he just listened. It was a strange sensation, how the creatures were so strange and unknown but at the same time so comforting to be around. The creature sat close to him, his soft fur pressed ever so lightly against the boy's arm.

"Is this edible?" he asked, looking over the jewel-like fruit.

The rabbit nodded, it's mouth snapping shut before it swung open again, "_i suggest you get it sooooooon, the memories are going to catch up aaaaany time now,_"

He held the giant apple up in the sunlight and saw a small winding key suspended in the middle. He bit down the best he could do and felt his teeth sink into just like it would with any other Red Delicious Apple. He found himself enjoying the taste, a mix between crystal and candied apples, a sugary and sharp sensation that made his stomach melt. He made it to the key but he was becoming more and more aware of the dark clouds filling the skies.

Trees at the very edge of the grove fell with thunderous crashes and blurs of grey plunged into the sky.

He was urged up by the rabbit and forced to run around the great width of the tree. "_this waaaay_," it hurried, pushing Todd ahead with its large head. Todd was forced in front of a large rabbit hole nestled under an upturned root of the tree. Inside he could see a pattern carved into the root of exotic animals. The hole was half hidden in darkness.

"_take the keeeeey, quick,_"

He pulled the small clock winding key out and shoved it in his pocket, "What's going on?" he whimpered, watching as the grey needles in the sky only grew more. Suddenly a large splat of red burst across his face and he stared in awe at the giant construction nail that had plunged itself need inside of the rabbit's stomach. Before he was allowed to protest the rabbit gave one last violent push and Todd was falling down the rabbit hole.

"_good luck squeeeee,_"


	4. Circle 4: Greed

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**Circle 4:**

**Greed**

He landed on a mattress and a big cloud of dust rose around him. He was coughing a sputtering and sobbing all at the same time. Snot was running down his lips and dust collected onto it and the tears that were streaking down his face. He was sobbing, morning a creature that he hadn't even gotten the time to know. But it was the only thing in this... whatever it was, dream, game, life that showed him help and well...

The boy touched his face, feeling the wetness and the slim from his sadness but nothing remaining of the creature that helped him. He pulled the three keys out of his pocket and looked at them, the small metal keys resting feathery on his palm. The skeleton key, the dimple key, and the winding key. He had **six** more to get. Six more grueling tasks to survive through.

He rolled up into his bed and cried heavily. He had to take a break. He needed some sort of rest or else he would be totally disabled by grief and fear. He closed his eyes but when he reopened them,

"_Oh thank god he's back again," the orderly leaned over him and sighed heavily. "Alright Tobby, it's okay. Stick with us alright? This thingy on your head will melt your brain if you shaking your head like that."_

_He wasn't shaking his head, or so that's how it felt. The man was shifting back and forth a little so perhaps he was right. He couldn't stop doing it though._

"_Don't worry Tobby once the doctor gets here you'll be set right again, okay?"_

"_My name is To-"_

The boy fell out of the bed and rolled across the floor. He sputtered and sat up, cleaning his face with his shirt. He coughed against the dust and decided it was best to leave his bedroom and search the house for his parents. They would be of some help, right?

He made his way down the stairs and into the living room where his father spent his free time watching his birthing video. He didn't remember much of what happened in the video but he would often see the reverse button flashing at the top of the screen whenever Todd had passed by. However, from memory serve, his father had little free time as it was. He probably reversed it to a good part to re-watch and relax. His daddy loved him after all.

He stood at the window and looked out at the street. The sky was streaked with the sunset and Todd made a note to turn on the lights before the house became too dark. He went to the front door and groped for the light switch, unable to feel one. The light diminished swiftly and he was only able to make it to the computer before the world fell to night. The moon gave enough light for the boy to see but the transition made him pause. His eyes settled soon thereafter.

He crept through the house and wandered back up stairs, unable to find a sign of any living human in his house. The master bedroom was empty and the bed was made. He knew that his mother was often bed-ridden and on her good days she would take him out. But he had never seen it made before. The house didn't feel like it was lived in, unloved. The dust on the floor tipped him off the most. He had noted just recently that his sneakers were leaving little imprints on the floors.

Everything in the house was just as it was, untouched like a doll's house that the child grew bored of.

He supposed it wasn't as bad as the previous ones, though the last one had been so peaceful before he was kicked out. It was his favorite and he never wanted to leave, now that he really had the chance to think about it. He was a fool to be afraid of the Bunny People. They were the only good thing to have come and help him. It drove him up the wall thinking that maybe if he had reacted differently he could have stayed there instead.

Maybe his fear had brought that awful storm of nails?

He held his neck nervously and felt himself gulp. He held back his emotions as he thought about his Bunny Friend, the one that had the nail driven through him. He was nice.

He stepped towards the kitchen, passing the office. The computer screeched and he jumped, his heart pounding deep in his ears. He was panting already, sweat starting to dab on his forehead. He kept staring at the computer, the thick monitor black as the night that had settled.

He settled down, his heart settling down into his stomach instead.

The computer let out another screech and he could see a light reflect on the wall he was facing. He turned swiftly and he looked at the monitor with surprise. An image had flashed across the screen, he had seen it, but he was unable to tell _what_ it as. It was lines. It was arrows. It was swirls. He didn't know what it was.

The screen audibly clicked and, as if changing the channel, the white screen went to static. It fizzled endlessly.

His heart was thumping in his throat and he had to lean against the door frame, eyes fixated on the static, until his heart settled down. He had to get a hold of himself, Todd reminded himself. He had to get that key and move on!

The boy stepped into the kitchen and went for the counter where his parents usually placed their house keys at the end of the day. With each step across the floor, the tile that he set foot on dropped into a seemingly endless pit radiating a brilliant red light. He squealed and rushed across the kitchen, the floor collapsing into itself.

The sound of glass breaking erupted from upstairs and screaming was heard. Heavy, frantic footsteps, doors slamming, more glass breaking. More yelling. Cursing. Another scream, this one of a child.

Todd felt his body freezing up on him and he had to literally hit himself to snap himself out of that stupor. He jumped onto the counter and watched as the floor disappeared. The keys weren't on the counter. He watched as the kitchen floor cracked and broke away. The tiles under the kitchen table were the only ones still intact.

The key was on the table.

There were heavy footsteps emitting from the stairs and Todd found himself lost.

He stood up on the counter with wobbling legs. He steadied himself and went to jump onto the table. He froze again as the sound of footsteps drew closer. It felt so familiar. He couldn't put his finger on what it was but he knew that it was something he experienced before!

Fat beads of sweat rolled down the back of his neck. His body was shaking as he prepared to jump onto the table. He couldn't take his eyes off the arch doorway.

A steel-toed shoe appeared in his vision and he let out a scream, something so loud and primal he wasn't even aware if it was him that was screaming or something else. He jumped across the gap and landed rough on the table. It broke under the force and he was falling. The key flipped above his vision and he snatched it with all his might, hoping that the fall would not lead to his death.


	5. Circle 5: Wrath

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**Circle 5:**

**Wrath**

He woke up in a padded cell covered in blood. The blood was primarily around the area in which was was lying but there were large splashes of it across the walls. He pushed himself up off of it almost immediately, yelping at the squishing noise that was made as his hands pressed deep in the soaked cloth.

Todd stood up and rubbed his hands down his shirt, dragging the blood off of his hands. Sitting on the padded floor was the key he had just acquired and he made sure to pick it up and pocket it. It was a strange key with four sides to it; a four-sided key. He felt the ridges before he slipped it into his pocket.

Stepping ever so carefully out of the cell he froze at the doorway. The heavy door had been open the entire time but just at that moment did he really see what was out in the hall. The tiled floor was replaced with a metal lattice and the holes in it were just big enough for him to see fire burning under it. The paint on the walls were cracking and some of the cracks dug deep into the wall itself. Red vines almost crawled their way out of those cracks, sticking against the wall and extending capillaries out from them. The vines pulsed. Maybe they were veins.

The air was hot and stunk of molten metals and toxins, making Todd's lungs tighten up. He wrapped a hand over his nose and mouth and he squinted at the hall. It looked to be set up exactly like DHMI, just horribly distorted.

He stepped out to the hall and felt the heat melt into his shoes. He only hoped that the rubber and plastic that covered his feet didn't melt as well. He stepped the opposite way of the day room and went down the many branches of the building. The boy was starting to imagine that this area was devoid of life much like the others but he stepped into yet another hall to find several orderlies slumped against the floor.

Before even getting near them he could tell that they were dead. He didn't understand fully why he could tell so easily, he just knew. So he walked around them cautiously and continued forward. He was driven forward without even thinking of where he was going, he just kept walking.

His arms wrapped around his waist and Todd was startled to find that nothing but his arms pressed back against him. He was starting to miss Shmee all the more lately. He was the best source of conversation in the DHMI. They took him away because of tha-

Wait.

He was taken away from him, wasn't he? Todd didn't remember the fact back when Shmee was talking to him, but the employees there had taken his bear from him one afternoon. He was sitting in the ward with the other children. He could remember that whatever was on the television bored him but kept the kids' attention, it was a particularly good fact because they always made fun of him for talking to Shmee. But then an orderly with a lemon-face (both in shape and because it looked like she had bitten into one) stepped up to him and patted him on the knee. He had stopped mid-sentence to look at her before giving his best pout when she lifted Shmee from his lap and taking him away. All she had told him was that the doctors didn't want them talking anymore, mentioning something about stuffed bears not being able to talk, and that he was absolutely insane (that part was under her breath.)

And he didn't see him after that though sometimes he did see him in his dreams, always sticking to him like glue as he struggled his way through nightmares.

The lights flickered and he picked up his pace.

Todd stepped over another dead orderly and felt his heart beat through his hands. The hairs on his neck and arms prickled. He froze in place.

In the hall in front of him a blur rushed by.

The loudspeaker crackled, like someone controlling it was adjusting it with his palm over the mic. "_Noo! Nooo! __**Noo!**_"

His ears burned at the screaming that screeched from the loudspeaker and he bolted forward. He turned the opposite that whatever it was he just passed had come from, hoping with all of his little might that he was running away from it.

"_I promise! I promise!_"

He turned another corner. Behind him he could hear scrapping and the sound of hundreds of little feet clattering against the floor. He threw a look over his shoulder and a blur rushed down the hall, right past his turn.

Sweat the size of bullets poured down his face. His shirt was turning wet around the third turn he took.

"_C'mon then! Yeah! Ya coward! You won't! You can't! I know you won't! __**Aaaagh! Get away from me!**_"

Todd was on the verge of screaming as the lattice wobbled. He had barely noticed it but the fires under it were flaring and his shoes really were starting to melt into it the longer he stood still.

A low rumble echoed behind him and he dared not look behind him. He already knew that whatever it was that was with him was playing with him. It was leading him to something and it was just teasing him.

He belted forward and kept running, even as the creature screamed right behind him and down the alternate hall. He could feel the hot breeze from the creature's movement jostle the hair on the back of his head.

"_Nnng... why?I was only playing._"

The monster was getting closer. Instead of footsteps, he could hear the way the movement scrapped against the metal. It had claws. It had claws on those hundreds of feet.

Todd was screaming now, pushing himself as far as he could. His lungs were starting to ache now too, his limbs starting to very subtly growing that rubbery constituency. His arms were wobbling now and his knees were weaker than they were before.

How long had he been running?

"_**You can't do this!**_"

The footsteps were thunderous behind him. It was right behind him, running towards him like a train. Snapping. Scrapping. Hundreds of heavy footfalls. Right behind him.

Todd gripped the corner just as he had reached it swung himself into the hall, tumbling head-first on the ground. He slammed into the wall and heard the monster run right by him. He was trembling, unable to control himself. Tears were streaming down his face as he screamed between his sobs.

"_Please..._"

He rolled over and rested on his side, looking at the dead-end he had brought himself too. He crawled over to the wall, still unable to get to his feet.

"It hurts me to look at you,"

Todd screamed. He knew that voice. He could hear the breathing over the loudspeaker, he knew the voice that had just echoed from it too, he just didn't know _who_ it was.

What he did know was that the monster would be back quickly and the only thing the hall he currently curled into lead to a wall. A wall that had red all over it, tiny little capillaries branching across its surface. Resting on the ground by the wall were several dead bodies- more doctors- and a bucket with a large brush.

He wobbled over to it, looking close at the wall. Scrapped away, revealing the white paint under the red, were the words "PAINT ME." In between the "PAINT" and "ME" as a small piece of metal pressed into the wood. It was shaped differently than any key he had ever seen, in fact, it barely looked like a key at all, but he knew it was one. It had a small handle shaped like a square and a ring at the end. It looked more like a part of a crank than anything else.

Todd scrapped a nail around the key before he gripped it tightly between his fingers and pulled.

The footsteps were sounding off again and the floor under his was shaking.

He frantically tugged at the key, desperately trying to pull it out and leave before the monster caught him. He pulled and pulled and pulled but the key wouldn't budge.

The wall, however, seemed to give pity to him and started to drag the boy inward. It absorbed his fingers, his hand, his arm, before sucking in the rest of him into total darkness, key in hand.


	6. Circle 6: Heresy

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**Circle 6:**

**Heresy**

His eyes opened to the sight of the mall. It wasn't a welcoming sight. It certainly was the mall he had been in beforehand. It looked like a hurricane had plowed its way through the middle of it. Rubble was at his feet and the ceiling was torn to shreds. A large, baron rip went through the middle, leaving only the ends of the mall standing.

He stepped off the small mound of debris that he was on and settled down on the only open patch of floor there seemed to be. Under the wreckage he could see the banners that used to hang through the rafters, torn.

The sky was dark but there were streaks of red and gold that twisted around the moon. The moon was washed in a crimson hue; a Harvest Moon.

Todd placed the strange, old key into his pocket and sat down. His chest hurt. The boy curled over his drawn knees and held a hand to his chest. It felt like his heart was being torn. He had never experienced this much pain in his chest before. He had felt something akin to it during times of intense fear but nothing as strong as it was now. He could barely move, the sting branching out to the entirety of his body. It was pulsing, sharp pain.

He really needed Shmee's comfort. He made it so that the aches went away.

"_You need to wake up,_"

He looked to the middle of the mall, away from his grief and the pain. There were tiny little whispers in the back of his mind, telling him to wake up, to move, to look at them. But he didn't know where they were. They just... produced noise inside of his ears. Little touches that he couldn't register to be real or not patted on his arms. They circled his arms. They cupped his face. It was irrational, he could tell, but they felt both good and bad. They were touches that he could remember but there were no physical forms he could associate to them. They were just there.

There was a large mound in the very middle of the mall.

He took slow, unsteady steps toward it. Of course that's where the key would be. The touches and the voices were fading the closer he went to it. Of course the key would be there.

Resting upon the strange hill was the silhouette of a chair.

The closer he trudged toward the hill, the stronger the smell. Oh yes, he knew the smell. It was disturbing how well these things seemed to click with him. Like a little area of his memory had held all of these bad things but now it was free to let it melt back into his conscious thought. Shmee had mentioned something like that a long time ago.

He grimaced. Before him was a mountain of dead bodies. The smell clogged into his nose and it made him cough. His nose stung and his eyes watered from the stench. It made him sick to be near it, always so very sensitive to smells. He dry heaved several times in his hands, small specks of saliva and bile covering his palms. He wiped his hands dry and leaned over, coughing and gagging. Blood he could handle. The smell was different, less repugnant. But decomposition. That was truly horrid.

Todd lingered back and looked down at his hands. He gulped air in from his mouth, trying his hardest not to taste or smell it. He placed a foot against the shoulder of one of the bodies at the bottom and applied some pressure, testing his ground. It was sick, having to climb on the bodies of people he was sure he had seen around his hometown but he had to move on. He was so close to being done. Being safe from whatever it was that was trying to get him. He still didn't understand it all, no, it wasn't that simple, but he had an inkling, a little spark that was growing, and he was sure that the answer would meet him soon.

So he took his step and started to scale the bodies, hands covering in the stench of death and his feet soiling the bodies of the dead. He tried to repeat some sort of religious apology, begging the spirits not to get too angry at him, but he was never around people who were particularly spiritual. He climbed on however, ready to get this task finished before It was back to try and snatch him again.

He looked at the chair again and found a body slumped in its seat, face lulled to the side. That wasn't a good sign. He was catching up on these signs faster now, already having gone through five of such tasks already. His heart still hammered in fright but his hands didn't shake quite as hard as they did before. His legs weren't quite as gelatinous as they were before.

Todd stood in front of the body, shifting his feet every now and then to keep himself steady of the body-hill. Timidly he placed a hand on the shoulder of the body that was slumped in the chair.

The body went rigid for a moment before the head turned to him. He could even remember the fact of the man staring at him. It was the man from the mall way back when he was a kid... no that wasn't right. Back when his mother forgot him at the mall? Was that right too? Back when his mother abandoned him at the mall.

He had a round gut and a receding hairline, a shiny greasy face that shined in the red moon. His eyes reflected in his thick-rimmed glasses, but he didn't have the typical eyes. No, they were bright red and instead of a thick circle of an iris he had a swirl of black instead, constantly turning.

Todd shifted again, backing up as far as he could. Oh yes he knew this man... he just didn't know those eyes.

"So you're the one he keeps ranting about," the man said, sitting back on his throne, "The one he keeps clinging to for salvation."

"W-Who?" he squeaked out.

The man smiled weakly, "You don't need to know," he waved a hand at him before pausing. He looked down at his opposite palm and grinned.

"Ahh yes, dear boy, and this is what you're looking for, correct?" he presented a tiny key to him.

Todd hesitated before he finally broke and nodded is head. He didn't know what the man was getting to but he knew right away that such a creature couldn't possibly be trusted.

"Well good! I have no purpose for it. Now close your eyes and open both of your hands," there was a wicked sort of grin on his face, teeth small and crookedly jammed into his mouth.

Todd lifted his palms, looking at them and then to the man, before slipping his eyes close. He felt something considerably heavy and lukewarm placed into his right palm and something small and feathery in his left. He opened his eyes and shuddered as he looked at the gun that was gripped in his hand. In his other palm was the key but he could barely feel it. When he went to grip it tighter he found that his hand went right through it.

He threw a look to the man.

"Go ahead! Take the key! Oho, you can't?" he leaned forward, "Well then what could the solution be to this situation?"

Todd wanted to drop the gun, really he did, but something in him told him that he needed it.

"Go ahead Squee, bring that trigger to your head and pull the trigger! Join all those who have tried to get that key before you!"

He stared down at the bodies and it made his legs feel weak again. And he was doing so well too. The hammering of his heart increased and the blood was gushing through his veins hard enough to make his ears buzz. He could only grip his hands harder, one squeezing against the hard body of the gun and the other desperately trying to hold onto the key.

"Go ahead boy,"

He had called his Squee. Who was that? Was that him? It sounded right but he didn't remember ever being called that. Another puzzle to solve.

"Do it! Pull the trigger!"

The mound rattled.

"Stop hesitating already! Kill yourself already!"

The bodies were moving, much to Todd's terror. They lifted and their hands tore at him, gripping onto his ankles and trying to pull him under. He was pulled from his standing position and he landed on a woman.

Her arms wrapped around his waist and she tried to drag him down as well.

He stared at the key that was hovering above him and he panicked, staring at the man.

"Go ahead," his face twisted and ink seeped into his face. Large circles of black drenched around his eyes and his face seemed to mold into something much less human, "Kill yourself already you useless little boy! You amnesia-stricken crackpot! You can't even understand the concept that this isn't even real, it's just too funny to me!"

Todd wailed as they clawed at him. His hand shot up and he wrapped his hand around where the key would be. He lifted the gun, sobbing, before pulling the trigger, sending the bullet straight into his temple.

An explosion of pain seared through his skull and he felt his vision snap to black. The man was laughing.


	7. Circle 7: Violence

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**Circle 7:**

**Violence**

"_Come on kid stop that!_" _He was shook._

_Todd was gasping, staring at the orderlies surrounding him. He felt sick to his stomach._

"_He's suicidal, you saw what he was just doing. We need to get him calmed down," one man stated, lifting his hands from Todd's shoulders._

"_I'll contact Dr. Canby and verify the electroshock therapy."_

_They picked him up and he felt his legs tremble under him. He could barely stand on his own and it was a wonder why but the people in white around him helped him up and out of the room. They lead him down the hall and he could remember where he was. It was the mental hospital._

_Was this the next level? Why did everything hurt so much? Did he really shoot himself?_

_What if this was actually heaven? Or, worse than that, what if it was hell?_

"_Doctor Canby thank you for getting up so quickly." A thin-faced doctor with a beak of a nose pushed through and stepped next to them, "Mr. Casil has finally snapped out of it but he was doing strange gestures just before snapping out if it."_

"_Please, elaborate further," the man in the lab coat said._

"_He lifted his hand and pretended to shoot himself in the head. Beforehand he was screaming,"_

"_He appears settled for now," he noted._

_Todd found himself presented in front of his cushioned cell and he was placed in, rather awkwardly for that matter. He looked at them, all of them looming over him with their clipboards out._

"_If he does anything like that bring him to the Electro-wing,"_

"Todd, you need to escape!"

"_Yes of course,"_

He was dragged back, his body twisting and distorting away from the land that he was to a land entirely new. And he landed hard on his legs, his knees snapping forward and his body colliding sharp with the ground. A large plume of dust arose around him as his vision spun.

Todd moaned and held his head, the pain sharp in his temple. He bit his lip until it was full and bloody. It felt like something was being squeezed out of his head and as he worked his way through the pain, he felt something push out from his temple.

It finally popped from his head and he let out a yelp, holding the foreign object in his hand. The boy looked down at it and paused. There it lay, the key that he was trying to grab back in the last level. His head still burned from the bullet but apparently it was the key instead. Todd bit down on his lip as he rolled it over in his hand, observing the round end of it. It was a tube-like key with a twisted little handle.

Todd slipped it into his pocket and stood. He looked around carefully, uneasily.

Surrounding him was none other than his school's playground. The ground was dusty and aged. The sky was a dark and dreary grey. He had the distinct feeling of being in a nuclear fallout zone. As he trudged forward, he quietly played with the keys in his pocket, gripping them tightly in his hand every time he walked by a femur or a collection of hand bones.

The entire area, he came to discover, was littered in bones. Small bones. There was a pile of pom-poms on the ground just ahead, settled near a sandbox. As he stepped closer he caught sight of a circle of skulls packed down into the cracking sand.

Todd held back tears as the feeling of recognition slammed into his chest. He didn't know how but he had the distinct feeling that he knew the faces that were originally covering those skulls. He also had the feeling that he knew who had arranged them there as well.

He moved along, biting his teeth together until they ached from the pressure. He closed his eyes, trying to force it all away. When he opened them again, he was still within the demented playground.

He could hear the swings squeak nearby and turned to the sound, greeted by the sight of a boy sitting alone on one of them. Todd could barely make out who it was but with a few steps closer, could see well enough to know that it was his on-again-off-again friend Pepito.

The grey boy was unmoving, seated upon the swing with his head downcast. Around his neck was his usual key necklace but it felt different. It felt like it didn't belong and upon closer inspection he could see that it wasn't Pepito's usual key. This one was a strange key with a knotted handle. Todd took it was a sign that it was the key he was searching for.

He stepped up to his friend, footsteps quiet against the cracked earth. He carefully tapped on the other's shoulder, coughing in order to garner the other boy's attention.

Pepito didn't move. His head didn't shift. His eyes couldn't be seen.

Todd shifted, choosing this time to bite his already broken lips even more. He carefully wrapped a hand around the key, staring at Pepito's face intensely, before he lifted it off of the boy's body.

Pepito's hair was pulled back, horns poking out of the long tendrils of dark hair, as the key's chain passed it. The boy was stationary, oblivious to the lose of his possession.

The small child stepped back, staring nervously from the key that was now in his hands and then back at the boy sitting motionless on the swings. He waited impatiently for him to react, or for the world to start shifting again, but neither happened.

Todd tore his eyes away from the boy and looked around and the dead area around him, pocketing the key. He took a cautionary step away and when nothing negative happened, continued off without much hesitation.

"Squee,"

He froze. The hairs on the back of his head prickled and he could feel goosebumps crawl up his arms. He clenched his arms around his core, feeling a sudden chill strike through. He turned slowly, eyes closed.

He opened them and looked at Pepito. He still couldn't see the boy's eyes.

"Please, Squee, kill me,"

The voice was quiet, timid almost, with a grating sound behind it. However, Todd could still tell it was Pepito who spoke.

Todd was about to argue back at him but found, as he lifted his hands away from his form, a gun clutched in his right hand. He almost dropped it out of shock but cannot bring himself to actually part with it. It has a feeling like it's fitted to his hand like a magnet.

"N-No, Pepito," he stammered out at first, "Why would I want to kill you?"

The boy in front of his gurgled, "Squee, _please,_ put me out of my misery!"

"No, I can't!" Todd felt the tears well in his eyes again but held them at bay. He threw his head away from his friend, forcing his eyes to suck back in the moisture.

"_Please, Squee,_" the ground started to rumble, "_End me for good. __**Kill me already!**_"

He let out a scream as a giant mushroom cloud exploded behind Pepito. The ground started to shake and his ears become filled with a deafening rumble. He could feel the wind around him picking up.

Fire exploded around them, turning the sandy ground to warped glass. The rumbling in the air started to mix in with a horrible screaming sound. Todd can tell that it was a mixture of thousands of voices.

He let the tears appear, clearing his wobbling vision to look back up at Pepito.

"_**Kill him already so that I can feed!**_" The sound cut straight to his ears, wet and curdling.

Todd looked with wide eyes as the boy's body tore apart, limbs twisting off and falling to the ground, blood splattering everywhere. Out of his core burst a giant beast with an unspeakable appearance. Its giant mouth split open, the screams of thousands tearing out of its throat.

The ground started to split and shake, great pillars of lava shooting up into the air. Another explosion set off.

Todd couldn't think, he couldn't understand how his body started to react on its own accord. But, in a way, he was thankful, as he found himself bringing the gun up, taking aim, and shooting at the beast. He found himself shooting until only the sound of an empty clip sounded from the gun.

The monster rumbled, unperturbed by the bullets, and lunged forward at him. "_**Stop trying to fix him!**_" It screamed as it swallowed the boy whole.


	8. Circle 8: Fraud

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**Circle 8:**

**Fraud**

Todd woke up in his cell once more. He curled tight into a ball. He started to cry, molten tears streaking down his drawn face. His chest was tight and he could tell his heart was tearing itself apart. He couldn't move, too frozen in terror to even consider it.

He didn't move for a long while, nothing around him encouraging him to move. Nothing in him to lead him forward.

The child coughed and gagged, wet sobbing noises projecting from his throat.

"Shmee!" He screamed, fingers digging deep into his chest. If he could, he would tear his heart out, right then and there. Get it out of him so that he could finally get out of the strange hell he had been forced in.

"Shmee, please, help me! Someone help me," he sobbed, the tears and the snot running down the side of his face. He could feel the cushioning under him, like so many times before. It didn't make him feel safe anymore. Nothing made him feel safe anymore. He could not bring himself to understand how anything around him had brought him any feeling like that before.

Todd couldn't admit it out loud but he was starting to forget what it was like to be comforted. What was it like to not be in terror? He couldn't remember anymore.

Slowly, with time, Todd can feel the strength come back to him. The terror started to melt away from him, like an icy layer covering his skin. Warmth filled his bones and he carefully uncurled. He picked himself up and used the soft wall as support until he could stand on his own.

He glanced up at the window too high up for him to properly see out of. Intense light poured in from the window and Todd assumed it was bright and sunny outside. He couldn't guess for sure, finally becoming consciously aware of the terrible things he has been put through, but he hoped that at stage eight he might be greeted by something not totally horrifying.

He turned his attention to the closed door. He pushed, testing at first, and found that the normally heavy door was opened with ease. Outside, however, was not the sunny experience he had expected. Instead, stretching past his vision, was an ocean of black.

Todd backed slowly, back pressed against the wall. He looked out at the expansion of black, heart hammering and breath coming in short bursts. He never enjoyed the dark.

He took a brave step forward, and another, and more after that until he was outside of his cell. He continued walking, limbs moving slowly in the darkness. It reminded him of mud, like trying to move in deep mud. But instead of feeling dirty... he felt nothing. Nothing at all.

Todd patted his pockets, going for the seven keys in his possession, only to find that nothing is there. There are no pants covering his legs, no shirt covering his chest, no shoes on his feet. Nothing. Panic shot through him and he gripped his neck in fear, startled by the small clatter that sounded.

He fiddled with the chain around his neck, astonished to count seven keys hooked onto it.

He gulped and looked back, the light from his cell becoming smaller and smaller the further he walked. Copper filled his nose, making Todd pull a face. He kept going, slowly but surely taking in the subtle sounds and sensations around him.

He could hear sloshing somewhere in the distance, becoming louder and more clear the further ahead he stepped. A hot breath ghosted over his neck, forcing Todd into a run. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice whispered for him to keep going, to run faster, to fall into a trap. It laughed at him.

The breath didn't cease and he could hear the sound of running feet behind him, only forcing him to move with more force.

Todd let out a sob, pushing his form faster than he ever imagined he could. Small touches scraped against his bare arms and legs, trying to drag him back.

He could hear the breathing become more clear, more wet and filled with blood and phlegm. A growl was under it, low, shaking, making Todd's lungs rattle with each exhale.

The boy's throat tore out a scream, his legs tripping over each other. He fell, body tumbling across the dark, unseen plane under him. Something sharp stabbed into him, making the boy let out more of his pathetic noises. Blood splattered somewhere around him, though he couldn't tell for sure if it was from the searing pain in his stomach or from somewhere else.

He aimlessly touched the wound, feeling bits of metal poking into him. He plucked the pieces out, one by one, body trembling as the footsteps and noises that were following him came closer. He felt his fingertips touch something cold and he stopped, feeling at it mindlessly.

He pulled the pieces from his stomach, letting out a cry of pain.

"_Todd, wake up already!"_

He let out a shrill scream, vision spilling into white nothingness.


	9. Circle 9: Treachery

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**Circle 9:**

**Treachery**

Todd found himself somewhere much like before... but much different in the same sense. He couldn't feel the pain from before. He couldn't feel anything anymore, just a soft, beating warmth in his hands and feet.

He could see anything either, just a pulsing whiteness all around him. At his feet, surrounded by a small circle of red, is the last key. It was an ordinary house key with the numbers 777 scratched on the surfaced.

He couldn't remember why the number was important, nor does he feel the need to care. The feeling was new for him, he thought, adding the key from the previous state and the one next to him onto his necklace. Nine keys.

He took several paces forward, feet leaving behind red footprints. The boy stopped, feeling the keys settle heavily on his chest. Suddenly, there was a pull coming from inside his head-

"_We got him!"_

_Todd looked around with wide, brown eyes. His pupils were blown wide, facing aching._

"_I told you a good slap would get him out of it. Always does,"_

"_Oh shut up," a man barked, "we can get in a lot of trouble for that!"_

_The previous man in white scoffed, turning back to Todd with a crazed look in his eyes. "Now you better stay like that!"_

_Todd's heart struck against his ribs violently. He was tied down to a table, looking up at the people surrounding him. "What's going on?" he asked in a small voice._

"_Don't worry, we'll be done here soo-zztshhszt_

He belted out a scream, world trembling around him. The pulling on his head snapped and his body suddenly collapsed in on itself.


	10. Ten

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**Ten**

The air was thin and filled with pollution.

He was in a neighborhood, one that he knew all too well. He looked from the insides of his eyelids and out at the house in front of him. It was the house next to his own... his neighbors house. He couldn't remember much about the man who lived there, only that sometimes he could hear noises coming from it during the middle of the night.

He looked at the sign stamped into the dead earth of the front yard, choosing to ignore the warning it was giving him. He stepped forward, up the cracked and broken walkway and to the front door.

Todd took the 777 house key off of his chain and placed it within the lock, turning it carefully, cautiously, and was rewarded with the sound of the door unlocking. He opened it, slipping inside.

A noose was in the corner but Todd couldn't bring himself to care much about it. The sight reminded him a lot of the man who lived there, his neighbor who would occasionally talk to him about stuff that he didn't understand. A cog started in his head, turning the gears in his mind.

He could remember who lived there.

The child put his hands into his pockets, totally forgetting that not too long ago he had none, and he wondered why he was brought here of all places. He could remember a memory from long ago. One where he was in the same house, wandering aimlessly. It was abandoned then, after he was told by his neighbor that he was leaving for good. He could remember going down many flights of stairs...

He couldn't place his finger on what he was doing there now but somewhere in his chest he felt a pull to keep moving forward.

At the end of a short hall was a door, a locked door. He unhooked the skeleton key Pepito had and unlocked the door, allowing it to swing open and present a looming, winding staircase.

Todd felt his heart begin to pump harder as he took his first step down. He went to wrap his arms around his waist but stopped himself. He, instead, steadied them by his sides and kept moving forward.

On his descent down, he encountered more and more doors, using each key he gained to get past them, slowly but surely.

He made it to the bottom of the stairs, feeling weak in every aspect. His limbs were tired and his head was pounding. He slipped the necklace off, taking a parting glance at the silver key that remained, and used it to unlock the last door. He held his breath, wishing he could close his eyes tight and never open them again, and opened the door.

In front of him stretched a long room. At the very end of it was a singular red wall with a paint bucket in the corner. The room stank of blood and it made Todd grimace, pulling away from it. He was tugged in by something he couldn't see or feel.

On the walls were three figures that Todd could barely recognize but, somewhere in his mind, did. A small rabbit that was curled into itself was nailed into the wall while two large dough-boy figures were pinned with knives.

"Uhm," he muttered out, "where is Johnny?"

The figures on the walls don't speak.

"I need his help," he told them, "Shmee sent me here to get help for some reason!"

It had to be important, he concluded, because Shmee never asked for help, especially if it had to come from his scary neighbor, Nny. He stepped to the blood-covered wall, remembering it from the levels previous. He placed a hand on it, feeling the wetness of fresh blood, and recoiled back.

The ground rumbled and he turned, jumping practically out of his skin, as a form emerged from the wooden floor.

The being was human in shape but made entirely out of the wood of the floor. It formed totally and a putty like material started to seep out of the cracks, covering the wooden figure until it took the form of Johnny.

Squee started to cry softly, hesitantly stepping up to the man.

Johnny, totally bald with blood pouring from a bullet hole and down his face, smiled at the child as he patted him swiftly on the head. "Hey there little Squeegee, what are you doing all the way down here again? Didn't I tell you to never come down here?"

"S-Scary neighbor man," he stuttered out, " I-I-I need help!"

_There was electricity in the air and he could hear it crackling in his ears._

_Todd wailed, eyes flinging open. He looked around at the doctors, eyes manic and stressed. Deep bags under his eyes._

"_You better stay around this time, kid!" one ordered, glaring down at him._

"_If you're not here for this procedure than you're probably going to die kid so keep awake already!"_

_More people started to scream at him and his eyes darted from each of their faces as they spoke. He could feel another shock pound through his head and he let out another scream. More of them were coursed through his body, his screams turning into yelps and then into nothing else. _

"_There, there, kid, it'll be over soon," the man with the pointed nose reassured, "And, you'll feel better."_

_He couldn't even tell what better was and he would voice it if he had the voice to._

_Todd's body was picked up like a doll's and he was put onto another table where he is laid down. Straps were placed around his wrists and ankles. One additional one was pulled over his forehead, fixing his head to look straight. A hot towel was placed against his forehead, slightly over his eyes,_

"_Don't worry Tobby, you'll feel much better once we're done,"_

_The doctor pulled a small pick and hammer from the kit by Todd's side, holding the tools up for him to see._

_He tried to let out a scream but couldn't. He struggled to thrash as the end of the icepick was placed against his eyelid, unable to close them. Todd let a scream out in his head, eyes wavering at the doctor._

And then, there was black. He couldn't see, nor hear anything for a long while.

Then, there was a slight chuckle.

"Sure thing Squeegee, I can help ya,"


End file.
